Lauren Stinson never considered baking as a career choice before landing a job at PattiCakes bakery in August 2008.

"I grew up around baking," she said. "My mom is an avid baker, my grandma is an avid baker - (but) I never considered it as a career option until I got a job at PattiCakes."

Now, Stinson, a Russellville native, and her mom, Cindy Jones, are the owners of The Cake Place, a gourmet bakery in Russellville operating in the spot previously held by PattiCakes.

Stinson and her husband were living in Northwest Arkansas, with plans to move back to Russellville, when she discovered the owner of PattiCakes was considering selling.

"The end of April was when I was first contacted about it," she said. "Patti and I were talking on Facebook chat and she said she was thinking about selling the bakery."

According to Stinson, Patti had a buyer in mind but told her to consider it.

"I was thinking, I'm 22 and just now moving back," she said. "I don't have any money, how will we do this?"

Although a little unsure, Stinson knew it was an "amazing opportunity" and contacted some of her closest friends and relatives about the offer.

"I called my best friend, my husband and my mom," she said. "My mom called back and said she was thinking about being my partner, so that's when it became a reality."

Patticakes closed its doors on May 28 and announced The Cake Place would soon take its place. Stinson and her family got the building on May 30 and started work.

"There was no major reconstruction," she said. "It was more painting and rearranging than anything. We were just trying to give it a facelift."

The Cake Place officially opened its doors on June 14 as a gourmet dessert bakery offering a variety of goodies inspired by family recipes including cookies, cheesecakes, cakes, macaroons, fudge, breads, cake dots and specialty cupcakes, all made from scratch.

"The cupcakes and cake dots are our specialties and our most popular items at this point," Stinson said.

Each day of the week offers up different flavored cupcakes and cake dots. Everyday staples for cake dots include wedding cake and death by chocolate, with birthday cake and the popular black and white, a chocolate cupcake with vanilla filling, as staples for cupcakes. The Cake Place also offers Saturday specials containing their made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls and fried pies.

Stinson said she realized Russellville needed something like her business when she and her husband were dating.

"When Nick and I were dating, we would drive around after dinner with a sweet tooth," she said. "We would stop at the grocery store and get ice cream. I wanted a place where people can come and have a date night."

Stinson said she hopes her business can become a hang-out spot.

"We definitely want it to be a hang-out place," she said. "We have wi-fi, a TV and coffee. We are open in the evening, so we want people to come by. We encourage people to stay here and eat their things. We would love to be able to expand our hours until 10 p.m. or some on the weekends if people would come and stay."

The Cake Place offers special treats to those who dine in, including creme brulee, trifles, chocolate lava cake, grilled pineapple with butter rum sauce and chocolate fondue for which diners can pick from strawberries to angel food cake to dip in the decadent pot.

Stinson said her goals for the bakery are to expand.

"I would be completely satisfied to open up another location someday in another town," she said. "We want to expand to lunch-type specials like salads, soups and sandwiches. There's not many bistro places that offer simple, light lunches, so I think that fits in with a bakery.

"I want to stay and produce a really good product for everyone."

The Cake Place is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday. For a complete menu, log on to www.thecakeplacebakery.com.